Mgr. Petra Johana Poncarová, PhD.
Executive editor of the journal Litteraria Pragensia. Her research focuses on Scottish literature and culture, especially on modern writing in Scottish Gaelic (Derick Thomson, Sorley MacLean, Tormod Caimbeul, Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar), and on British literature of the 20th and 21st century. She is the secretary of the International Association for the Study of Scottish Literatures and co-director of Ionad Eòghainn MhicLachlainn | National Centre for Gaelic Translation, and Gaelic advisor of FRLSU: Forum for Research on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster. In 2022, she was the manager of the 3rd World Congress of Scottish Literatures. Apart from academic work, she has also been active as a translator, reviewer, Gaelic poet, and co-editor of the Gaelic strand of the Glasgow Review of Books.
Selected Publications
Monograph
Critical Edition
Study Guide
Essays in Academic Journals (selection)
- “The Visual Dimension of Ruaraidh Erskine’s Scottish Magazines,” Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History 30 (2025-2026), 35-42. (accepted manuscript version available in open access)
- “Irish Content and Contributors in Ruaraidh Erskine’s Gaelic Magazines,” Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies 12:1 (2025)
- “’S Aobhar a Bhàis Soilleir an Clàr-aodainn: Crime Writing in Gaelic,” The Bottle Imp 36: “Watching the Detectives” (2025)
- “Deireadh an Fhoghair and the Environment,” Litteraria Pragensia 33:66 (December 2023)
- “Derick Thomson and Ireland,” Litteraria Pragensia 33:65 (July 2023)
- “Addressing Devastation in Gaelic Literature of the Clearances,” The Bottle Imp 31: Dystopias and Post-Apocalypses (March 2023)
- “Old Women, Dreams, and Reversed Revivals: Derick Thomson’s Gaelic Short Stories,” Scottish Literary Review 13:2 (2021)
- “Tři pohledy na Posvátný hlad Barryho Unsworthe,” Svět literatury 64:XXXI (2021)
- “Derick Thomson and the Ossian Controversy,” Anglica 29:3 (2020)
- “Eadar Canaan is Garrabost (Between Canaan and Garrabost): Religion in Derick Thomson’s Lewis Poetry,” Studies in Scottish Literature 46:1 (2020)
- “A Fitting Offering to the Gaelic Thalia or Melpomene: Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar and Drama in Scottish Gaelic,” Litteraria Pragensia 30:59 (2020)
- “Snake Women and Hideous Sensations: The Strange Case of Gaelic Detective Short Stories by Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar,” Scottish Literary Review 12:1 (2020)
- “An Druim bho Thuath: Tormod Caimbeul’s Last Vista of Gaelic Scotland,” Litteraria Pragensia 28:54 (2018)
- “The Gael Cosmopolite: Tormod Caimbeul and Shrapnel (2006),” Litteraria Pragensia 27:53 (2017)
- “Sorley MacLean’s Other Clearance Poems,” Studies in Scottish Literature 43:1 (2017)
Chapters in Collective Monographs (selection)
- “‘Many more remains of ancient genius’: Approaches to Authorship in the Ossian Controversy,” From Shakespeare to Autofiction: Approaches to Authorship after Barthes and Foucault, ed. Martin Procházka (UCL Press, 2024)
- “Derick Thomson’s An Rathad Cian (The Far Road, 1970): Modern Gaelic Poetry of Place between Introspection and Politics”, Place and Space in Scottish Literature, ed. M. Szuba and J. Wolfreys (Palgrave MacMillan, 2019)
- “The Best Scottish Gaelic Novel? Reception and Analysis of Tormod Caimbeul’s Deireadh an Fhoghair“, Imagining Scottishness: European and Domestic Representations, ed. A. Korzeniowska and I. Szymanska (Semper, 2017)
- “Hallaig Sorleyho MacLeana. Báseň a místo”, Hlasy míst: prostor, místo a geografie ve světové poezii, ed. K. Soukupová and M. Špína (CUFA Press, 2016)
- “‘Nuair a Dh’fhalbhas a’ Ghàidhlig’ (When Gaelic Goes): Gaelic in the Poetry of Derick Thomson”, Scottish Culture: Dialogue and Self-Expression, ed. A. Korzeniowska and I. Szymanska (Semper, 2016)
- “A Tale of a City: Edwin Muir and Prague”, Scotland in Europe / Europe in Scotland: Links – Dialogues – Analogies, ed. A. Korzeniowska and I. Szymanska (Semper, 2014)
Co-edited Journal Volumes
- “Literature and the Environment,” Litteraria Pragensia 33:66 (2023), with Robin MacKenzie
- “Ireland and Scotland: Cultural Intersections Across the Irish Sea,” Litteraria Pragensia 33:65 (2023), with Radvan Markus
- “Migration and Intercultural Communication,” Litteraria Pragensia 31:61 (2021), with Martin Procházka
- “Celtic Languages in a Globalised World,” Litteraria Pragensia 30:59 (2020), with Radvan Markus
- “Irish-Language and Scottish Gaelic Literatures: A Global Context,” Litteraria Pragensia 28:54 (2018), with Radvan Markus
- “Cultural Exchanges in Scottish Literature,” Litteraria Pragensia 27:53 (2017), with Martin Procházka
Translations (selection)
Recent Invited Lectures and Talks
- “Radical Scottish Gaelic Magazines in the Twentieth Century and Contacts with Ireland,” Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, Dublin City University, 20 June 2025
- “Radical Scottish Gaelic Magazines in the Twentieth Century and Contacts with Wales,” Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, University of Wales Trinity St David, Aberystwyth, 22 May 2025
- “New Perspectives on Ruaraidh Erskine’s Scottish Magazines and Their Literary Impact,” Department of Gaelic, University of Aberdeen, 14 May 2025
- “Ruaraidh Erskine’s Gaelic Magazines and Translation Activities,” Centre for Poetic Innovation, University of St Andrews, 12 May 2025
- “Radical Scottish Gaelic Magazines in the Twentieth Century and Contacts with Brittany,” Centre de recherche bretonne et celtique, University of Western Brittany, Brest, 30 April 2025
- “Gaelic and Scots in the 20th and 21st Centuries: Connections, Inspirations, and the Role of New Users,” Association for Scottish Literature Annual Lecture, Scottish Parliament, 19 February 2025
Awards
